Self-sustaining furnace arch



SELF SUSTAINING FURNACE ARCH Filed March 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 in N ATTORNDLS Sept. 25, 1928.

E. P. STEVENS SELF SUSTAINING FURNACE ARCH Filed March 4, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEY' Patented Sept. 25, 1928.

' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOCH P. STEVENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; MARY ANN STEVENS EXECUTRIX I SAD) ENOCH I. STEVENS, DECEASED.

SELF-SUSTAINING FURNACE ARCH.

Application ined Maren 4, iszz. serial no, 541mb.

cupyin positions between and supported u on t e sustaining courses; the suspensionv o the sustaining courses being usually effected through the medium of hangers extending from certain of the bricks in such courses to the overhead beam, and the hangerreceiving `bricks being coupled to adjacent bricks in the course in a manner to support the-latter from the hanger-receiving brlcks. It has heretofore been proposed to provide resilient end abutments for courses of bricks suspended from overhead beams in archs of the kind referred to, but such abutments have generally been mounted upon the furnace walls, thus involving support of the course upon the parts of the structure subjected to widely diering temperatures, besides necessitating openings through the furnace walls, and other objectionable features.

The present invention seeks to avoid these objections by suspending the resilient end abutments, as wellas the brick hangers, from overhead beams, and thus locating entirely within the furnace the suspending means as well as the abutments. Difficulty has also been experienced in providing sufficiently cheap and durable means for suspending bricks from overhead in arches of the kind described, while leaving the bricks in a course free to expand and con- 4 0 tract under changes in temperature. Another feature of the present invention-consists in suspending,r a course of bricks by means of hangers depending from the beam and entering into engagement with certain of the bricks through the medium of a hard settin plastic formed in the cavity of the brick an around an enlargement on the intruded end of the hanger; the said plastic'being also made to serve the function of yoking together the hanger receiving bricks and adJacent bricks in the course by continuing the plastic material as a hard rigid core from the cavity of the han er-receivin brick through the cavities of t e adj acent Arches b ricks; the core thusI formed being made to tit the cavities of the bricks with sufficient freedom to permit the ricks to move relatively to the core under expansion and contraction.

A feature of the invention collateral to this method of suspending all the bricks in the course consists in utilizing the aligned cavities of the bricks as a mold for forming the yoking core, a suitable destructible lining such as thick paper troduced into the mold thus formed in order to prevent binding of the molded core to the walls of the cavities.

A further feature of the present invention relates to means for sealing the ends of the arching courses of bricks at the ledges of the furnace walls, and consists in forming a ledge on lines constituting approximate continuations of the arc of the course so that the end bricks in moving under expansion and contraction. due to changes in temperature, will maintain substantially constant relation to the ledge; and the ledge is thus developed in the form of a trough which better confines the sand or other subdivided material used for sealing the joint.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, the preferred embodiment of its features is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings- Figure' 1 is a vertical sectional view of an arch taken in a plane indicated by the line a-a in Figure 2. l

or the like being` first in' Figure 2 is a vertical section in a plane at right angles to Figure 1.v

Figure 3 is a sectional detail view of one of the suspended bricks. A

Figures 4 and 5 are detail views of the shoulder-forming bricks.

Figures 6 and 7 represent by front e1evation and edge view one of the end abutment plates; and

Figures 8, 9, and 10 represent, respectively, by transverse section on the line b--b of Fi ure 9, and by two elevational views, t e construction of the beam supporting stirrups. I

1 represents the furnace walls constructed with ledges 2 that are trough shaped in transverse section, and with a portion of their surfaces 3 conforming substantially to the curvature of the arch which terminates above them,

thereby adapting said ledges to receive and confine a substantial body of sand or other sealing material. 4 represents the suspended courses of the arch, and 5 the filling courses located between and supported upon the suspended courses in a known manner. In order to suspend the bricks of the courses 4, said bricks are constructed with undercut cavities 6, adapted to receive the heads 7 of hangers 8 depending from overhead beams 9, which said hangers engage through the medium of .clips 10 in which the hangers are adjustable through the medium of nuts l1. The head 7 on a hanger may be of any desired construetion so long as it constitutes a substantial enlargement. In order to secure the head7 in the cavity 6, the latter is charged with a filler 12 of hard setting plastic which is preferably formed by molding it directly -in the cavity. The filler 12, however, is left free for movement relatively to the brick 4 by inserting some character of lining 13 between it and the Wall of the cavity which prevents adhesion at the time of hardening or binding and at the time of expansion and contraction of the members. Such a lining may be made of material which vvill subsequently be der stroyed or carbonized under the heat of the furnace; or it may be in the form of a relatively thick surfacing of graphite or other material adapted to be painted upon the surface of the cavity; or it may be a thin coat of material painted on if, for the plastic, a composition be selected which Will be prevented from adhering when it hardens and will sutilciently shrink under subsequent heat to leave it relatively free in the cavity. A material that I have found to be suitable for the filler 12 is the highly refractory material known commercially as high tempite.

`Another important feature of the present invention consists in selecting for the filler 12 a material which, in extending from la hanger-receiving cavity 6 to aligned cavities of adjacent bricks, will have a sutlicient shearing resistance to afford vertical support to the said adjacent bricks for yoking them to a hanger-receivin g brick or bricks.

In order to .maintain resilient pressure on the ends of the courses of brick, through means mounted wholly upon the overhead supporting beam, a bar 14 extending across the ends of the courses of bricks is supported by means of one or more bearing plates 15 each constructed With a confining seat 16 that receives the swinging end 17 of a crank arm 18 pivoted at 19 directly upon a beam 9, and having its opposite end -2() sustained resiliently by a spring 21 which is also mounted upon the beam 9, as, for instance, by seating it upon the clip 22 which rests upon the beam.

' By this arrangement, not only are openings through the furnace walls and the mountin of the yielding abutments upon said Wal s wholly dispensed with, but the yielding abutments, thehangers, and the sustaining courses bearing of the are all mounted upon one and the same arch beam as a unitary assembly that produces the best results. Bar 14 and plate 15 are preferably permitted to rest vertically upon the bottom of the trough-shaped ledge 2, as by so doing they help to seal the combustion chamber, and the end of the arch which they constitute thus becomes embedded in the sand or other packing material which the trough contains.

As here shown, the ends of the arch beams 9 are not built into the side Walls 1, but are removably supported by means of blocks 22FL (Figs. 1, 8, 9, and 10), built into the Walls and provided with stirrup recesses or Sockets 22b in their projecting inner ends for receiving the ends of the beams and holding the beams upright, so as to develop the. full strength afforded by their vertically elongated1 section.

As here shown, the rear brick of the arch is built up of brick sections in the form of a depending apron supported from the rear beam independently of the bricks of the arch, but resting against the latter with freedom of yielding und-cr expansion. To this end, the rear beam 9 is made of more substantial dimensions than the beams 9, being preferably constructed of a pair of channel bars, and to them is bolted an angle bar 23 extending longitudinally in the rearmost channel of the beam, with an upstanding flange in position to have hooked over it curved flanges 24 of a roiv of brick 24, which are thus made to hang upon the angle bar lower anges 24". structed with dove-tail lugs 25 (similar tenons 31, 32 shown in Figs. 4 and 5) engage the brick sections 26 and 27 in a manner to atl'ord vertical support thereto, and upon the brick section 27 are mounted the sections 28, 29 and 30 through the medium of the dove-tail tenons 31, 32, each of Whichis embedded partly in an intermediate abutting face of one brick section and into adjacent faces of two other brick sections with the result that not only are the bricks 28, 29, and 30 supported vertically from the section 27, but said bricks are held firmly together and to the bricks 24 as an integral depending apron-like structure with freedom brick flange 24 in the bar 23 so that the apron can yield to the expansion of the arch transversely of its courses and can return with the contraction of the arch in such direction. A

Each arch-forming brick is preferably constructed with a channel 33 which permits ow of relatively cool air alongside of the sustaining cavity of the brick and thereby The brick 24 are conto the `kee s down the temperature of that portion of t e brick.

' I claim:

1. A furnace roof including in combination a supporting member, a course of bricks whichv and rest through their` to swmg upon the porting beam, hangers Suspended therefrom, mean-s for supporting said member, and yielding abutment means for the bricks, said abutment means also being carried by said member.

2. A furnace roof including in combination a course of bricks, a beam having both vertically suspending and longitudinally compressing connections with said course of bricks, and means for supporting said beam.

3. A furnace roof including in combination asupporting member, a course of bricks suspended therefrom, means for supporting said member, and yielding Yabutn'ientvmeans for the bricks carried by said member and eX- erting pressure laterally of the bricks for maintaining them in contact with one another during expansion and contraction.

4. In furnace arch construction, a supporting beam, means for carrying said beam,hang ers depen ding from said bam, brick sustained vertically by said hangers, and a yielding end abutmentl for said brick comprising a crank arm fulcrumed upon said beam, coacting at one end With-the brick, and having its other end resiliently sustained by said beam.

5. In furnace arch construction, a course of brick, a supporting.I beam for said brick, means for carrying said beam, hangers sustaining saidibrick from said' beam, a crank arm fulcrumed upon Said beam, resilient means mounted on said beam and engaging one end of said crank arm, and a presser plate interposed between the other end of said crank arm and said course.

6. In furnace arch construction, a furnace Wall having a ledge, courses of brick termi- :na-ting over said ledge, a plate extending across the ends of a plurality of courses, and

resilient pressure means sustaining vsaid plate.

7. In furnace arch construction, a furnace Wall having a ledge, courses of brick terminating over said ledge, a bar extending across the ends of a plurality of courses, and resilient pressure means sustaining said bar comprising a pressure plate bearing against the bar and a presser arm bearing against said plate. i

8. In furnace arch construction, a supdepending from said beam, a course of brick with certain of the brick in the course engaged by the hangers, and a molded yoking member extending from the ha `fer-receiving brick to brick adjacent thereto and en aged with the latter to support the same rom the former.

9. In furnace arch construction, a course of brick having aligned' cavities, a hanger extending into the cavity of a brick, and hard setting plastic material embedding the hanger in the cavity which receives it and extending through the cavities of adjacent brick and sustaining the lat-ter upon the hanger-receiving brick.

10. In furnace arch construction, a course of .brick having aligned cavities,.a hanger extending into the cavity of a brick, and hard setting plastic material embedding the hanger in the cavity Which receives it and extending through the cavities of adjacent brick and sustaining the latter upon the hanger-receiving brick; said plastic mate.

rial eing molded in said cavities.

11. In furnace arch construction, a course ofbrick havin aligned cavities, a hanger extending into te cavity of a brick, and hard setting plastic .material embedding the hanger inthe cavity which, receives it and extending through the cavities of adjacent brick and sustaining the latter upon the hanger-receiving brick; said plastic material being molded in said cavities, but prevented from adhesion to the walls of the cavities and leaving the brick free to move relatively.

12. An end brick structure for furnace arch construction, comprising a beam, an upstanding flange carried by said beam, a row of brick havinghooking flanges engaging said upstanding iange, and an apron structure mounted on said row of brick.

13. An end brick stucture for furnace arch construction, comprising a beam, an upstanding flange carried by said beam, a row of brick having hooking flanges engaging said upstanding fiange, and an apron structure mounted on said row of brick; said row of brick also having lower flanges through which they rest upon said beam.

14. An end brick. structure for furnace arch construction, comprising a beam, an upstanding flange carried by said beam, aroW of brick having hooking flanges engaging said upstanding flange, and an apron structure mounted on said row of brick; said apron structure comprising brick sections With tenon connections uniting them.

Signed at Chicago, -illinois, this 27th day of February.

P. S. i?? EN S.

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